People are social beings, and they are increasing melding social interactions with computer technology. Social media such as Facebook and Twitter exist specifically to foster social interactions among people. However, even computer activities that were once considered stand-alone activities now tend to have a large-scale social component. In the past, a video game was something that one or two people played on a single device, such as a game console, handheld game player, or cell phone. Games now are often played between many networked participants, some of whom may be quite distant from each other and may not have met in real life.
Social media, online multiplayer games, and other technologies allow a form of social interaction between participants who may be in geographically diverse locations. However, the ability of computers to foster interaction among people who are not near each other has, in many cases, made the geographic proximity seem irrelevant. While it sometimes appears as if a person's virtual existence is so comprehensive as to supplant his or her corporeal existence, there remain situations in which people's physical proximity to each other is relevant.